There might now be a Cannabis reform even in Poland
The Central European country is close to legalizing cannabis in the country.
Here's the first thing you should know about the Polish cannabis discussion: People here go extreme ways to get cannabis when they are not opening a business. It sounds a lot like North America a few years ago. That includes going to jail. The country technically passed medical reform, but that was mostly driven by lobbyists and representatives of two major Canadian companies - namely Aurora and Canopy Growth. Indeed, Poland was on the map of both of them in 2018. Aurora even announced its entry within a week of going public in New York. Canopy saw it as a market for its Danish product. But it is precisely this approach, namely as a retrospective consideration, that is one of the reasons why Poland has so far been drowned out in the entire European cannabis reform discussion. By announcing the closure of its Danish plants as "not cost-effective", Canopy also admitted a massive failure in its ability to understand the market economy within the EU. Cultivating a product in one of the region's most expensive labor markets, destined for one of the lowest income European markets, is not a strategy that will last. In the meantime, the whole discussion is in the air. Nobody can find a product. And if it does, it is too expensive. Most Poles have the unsavory prospect of switching to the black and gray market or traveling internationally to Holland or Germany to try to get a product in this way. Obviously, that's unaffordable for most. It is also a scary prospect to travel across international borders with cannabis. It's not that there aren't any foreign cannabis companies keeping an eye on Poland. At the moment, at least one North Macedonian, GMP-certified company is legally shipping medical products across the border at prices that Poland can afford better. Several Canadian entrepreneurs have set up shop, including in the extraction sector. A large food processing company has set up a large cultivation center to boost production in the industry. And Polish companies with interests ranging from medicinal cannabis to all sorts of uses for hemp are starting to dot the landscape in search of domestic and international capital. In the meantime, there is huge potential interest, ranging from investors to patients, pharmacists and even doctors, to seriously boost "business" on the Polish side of the border. After all, Berlin is only five hours by train from Warsaw. News travels fast. And right now, many Poles, including at all levels of the supply chain, are trying to find out how they can help the industry here with envious glances at what is happening across a single border. Not to mention the question of how to get patients out of the illegal market. In other words, Poles are not waiting for Canadians or anyone else to get legal, GMP and other certified products into the hands of those who need them. It is not that the "community" is not organized. She is it. Patient lists and groups are widespread, supported as everywhere by the use of social media. However, the money to invest in the industry (so far), be it from domestic or international sources, is scarce. That's why there are such organized, non-profit patient groups who have collectives and sell products through safe houses and other conventions that are fading from the face of industry in places like North America. That is also the reason why there is pronounced cynicism towards foreigners here. Recognition for national "reforms", however incremental, and in this area with the real intention of temporarily boosting the stock prices of a foreign company is not appreciated. Despite all the frustration with developments so far, a large part of the discussion on site is characterized by a certain optimism. This is because things are changing, all over Europe. But there is also the feeling that there is still a high mountain to conquer. The state regulations are also different here than in other places in Europe. For example, it was Poland, not Germany, that called the Dutch regulatory authorities to the carpet in 2019 to take responsibility for cross-border requirements for product and product packaging. On the other hand, they did not have to contend with a strongly stalled cultivation offer.